Holders for needles and like articles



March l7, 1970 I Q [SANDERS 3,500,998

HOLDERS FOR NEEDLES AND LIKE ARTICLES Filed July 11, 1967 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 YALVENTORI Mom- AM TR HPrS SAMDEKS March17, 197( 1.55m; 3,500,993

HOLDERS FOR NEEDLES AND EIKEARTICLES Filed July 11. 1967 s Sheets-She et AG GMT March 17, 1970 N. 1'. SANDERS 3,500,998

HOLDERS FOR NEEDLES AND LIKE ARTICLES- Filed July 11. 1967 5 Sheets-Sheet s llS r3 r 35 Dl N /03 U4 U3 4 y I I M Llb F g-4b. I mg, NORMAN moms SMM w {MK .March 17, 1970 N. -r. SANDERS HOLDERS FOR NEEDLES AND LIKE ARTICLES Filed July 11, 1967 Fig. 50.

Fig. 51

March 17, 1970 N. 'r. SANDERS 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 mama mm A IM/0&6 3% M91 United States Patent HOLDERS FOR NEEDLES AND LIKE ARTICLES Norman Thomas Sanders, Studley, England, assignor to Needle Industries Limited, Birmingham, England, a

British company Filed July 11, 1967, Ser. No. 652,573 Claims priority, application Great Britain, Feb. 9, 1967, 6,226/67, 6,230/67, 6,231/67 Int. Cl. B65d 85/24, 73/00 U.S. Cl. 206--66 5 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A needle pack comprising a card having moulded directly thereon a block of plastic material formed with slots or bores to receive the needles. A rigid transparent plastic cover is secured to the card and the latter is hinged to allow access to the needles.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention This invention relates to holders for elongated articles having a stem or shank-like portion such as needles, especially sewing needles, and like articles of comparable dimensions and weight including ordinary headed pins, safety pins and hair pins or grips, all of which are of lightweight and small dimensions and are generally required to be stored and protected prior to sale to a user, displayed for sales purposes, and stored by the user after sale between periods of use. Such articles are hereinafter referred to as articles of the kind specified.

Description of the prior art In the past sewing needles have normally been packaged for sale in holders comprising a wrapping member made of thin sheet material such as paperand a mounting element attached to the wrapping member and including a piece of cloth or similar material to which the needles are attached by passing them endwise through a midportion of such piece of material. One such form of needle pack is described and illustrated in British patent specification No. 770,469. As can be seen from said specification the wrapping member is folded over the mounting element to form an envelope or folder, and is provided with an aperture or window through which the upper ends of the needles are visible when the pack is closed.

Whilst needle packs of this type have a number of advantages and have been in widespread use for many years they do present a number of limitations.

From the point of view of sales appeal, convenience in use, and ability to withstand repeated removal and reinsertion of needles, a needle pack should incorporate as many as possible of the following characteristics, these being listed in what is considered to be the decreasing order of approximate importance.

(a) The needles should be easily visible so that a potential purchaser can see exactly what is being olfered for sale.

(b) The appearance of the pack should be neat and tidy so as to create a favourable impression.

(c) The needles should be readily accessible for use and easy to replace after use without damaging the pack.

(d) The needles should be well protected against corrosion.

(e) The pack should be durable, bearing in mind that normally a person requires to buy a pack of needles only occasionally.

Similar limitations and requirements apply in respect of the packaging of other articles of the kind specified.

In recent years a new form of package has been 3,500,998 Patented Mar. 17, 1970 "ice developed and this has found to be commercially very acceptable. This is the so-called bubble pack in which an article is secured to a fiat card and enclosed in a film or bubble of transparent plastics material. In some cases the fihn is preformed into a bubble of a shape suitable to receive the article concerned, and in other cases the film is shrunk onto the article after this is positioned on the card In both cases the package is usually constructed in such a manner that, in order to obtain access to the article therein, the package has to be destroyed or at least damaged to such an extent that it cannot be reclosed securely.

Thus such packages are not suitable for use with needles and other articles of the kind specified which are desirably replaced in their packs between periods of use. Moreover, in such bubble packs the article is held in assembled relation with the card by the film itself, or the article is loose within the bubble formed by the film. In either case this type of arrangement is not suitable for use with articles of the kind specified because in the former case they would be very difiicult to remove from the pack and in the latter case they would present a very untidy appearance which would make it difficult for a potential customer to access the exact nature (e.g. size) of the articles ofifered for sale. Additionally, as previously mentioned, such packs would not be reusable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The general object of the present invention is to provide a holder for needles or other articles of the kind specified which is improved in respect of at least some of the above mentioned difficulties, or which more nearly meets the above mentioned requirements than known holders, without increasing production cost unacceptably.

A more specific object is to provide such a holder in which the article or articles is or are held more securely, and thereby more neatly, than with known types of holder.

A furthermore specific object of the present invention is to provide a holder for articles of the kind specified, which is reusable (i.e'. which can be repeatedly opened and closed for the removal and replacement of such articles) and in which the articles are more clearly visible than with known types of holder.

Broadly the invention resides in a holder for articles of the kind specified wherein a mounting member is attached to a base member and adapted to receive and hold one or more such articles, characterised in that the mounting member comprises a moulding of thermoplastic synthetic resin or plastics material. The mounting member may be formed with gripping means comprising one or more hollow formations each of cross-sectional dimensions adapted to receive therein the stem or shank-like portion of such an article and to retain the latter in assembled relation with the base member by virtue of elastic deformation of, or frictional engagement with, the mounting member.

More specifically the hollow formations comprise open mouthed slots into which the stem or shank-like portions of respective articles can be inserted either laterally (i.e. in a direction perpendicular to the length of such stem or shank-like portion) or longitudinally (i.e. in the direction of the length of such stem or shank-like portion). In this case it is preferred that the slots are of undercut form so that the open mouths thereof are partly spanned by one or more tongues (preferably only one tongue per slot) which are elastically displaceable to permit lateral insertion and withdrawal of the articles.

In another embodiment the hollow formations comprise open ended bores extending through the mounting member, the articles being inserted longitudinally.

One advantage of using this type of mounting member that the security with which the articles are held ermits very nearly total display thereof, only a very mall portion of the articles being obscured by the iounting member allowing the whole of the remaining ortions of the articles being visible through a transarent cover member.

Advantageously the mounting member is moulded diactly onto the base member, and in a particularly pre :rred embodiment the mounting member is moulded by rjecting molten thermoplastic material through an aper- 1re in the base member into an open sided mould cavity ver which the base member is laid.

This invention also includes a holder for articles of re kind specified wherein a base member and a cover rember are relatively movable in whole or in part beveen positions in which the holder is respectively open nd closed, and means are provided on said base member )r holding one or more such articles in assembled :lation therewith whether the holder is open or closed, haracterised in that the base member is substantially at and the cover member is a hollow shell made of a lape-holding transparent plastics material presenting its pen side towards the base member and contacting the ase member around the periphery of the shell when 1e holder is closed.

By shape-holding we mean that the material is sufciently stiff to retain its shape during normal conditions f usage.

Such a holder has an appearance similar to the aforelid bubble packs, but the articles can be arranged therein 1 any predetermined manner on the base member so 5 to present the desired neat appearance, and the holder m be opened and closed without disturbing the arrangelent of the articles or destroying the holder so that after se an article can be replaced therein. Moreover, since 1e cover member is transparent, the Whole of each article an be seen without opening the holder, apart from any ortion of such article which is necessarily obscured by re means whereby it is attached to the base member.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGURE 1 shows a perspective view of a needle pack 1 accordance with the invention, the pack being open,

FIGURES 2a and 2b show side views thereof respecvely in the open and closed positions,

FIGURE 3 shows on an enlarged scale a partial cross- :ction on the line III-III of FIGURE 2b,

FIGURES 4a to show various typical formations hich may be employed in a needle mounting member 9 used in this needle pack, and

FIGURE 5a shows diagrammatically a cross-section trough injection moulding apparatus for making a needle lounting member in a pack as shown in FIGURES 1, a and 2b,

FIGURE 5b shows a part cross-section through the lOlIld of FIGURE 5a in a plane normal to that of the :ction of that figure, and

FIGURE 6 shows a section through a part of a mould )1 forming a modified mounting member with bores II receiving the needles, some parts being omitted for arity.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The needle pack as illustrated in FIGURES 1, 2a and 1 comprises a base member 30 which is creased or ored to provide fold lines at 31, 32 and 33 to enable to be bent at will to the shape shown in FIGURES 1, 1d 2a. A needle mounting member 34 is moulded on e front side of the base member 30 through an aperre therein shown at 45 in FIGURE 3. Preferably the base member is made from a material lving a surface presenting keying interstices by virtue the nature of the material, and preferably the material of a porous or fibrous nature, such as cardboard.

Alternatively, the material of which the base member is made may be impregnated with, or be provided with a surface coating of, a thermoplastic material which will fuse to form a bond with the thermoplastic material of which the mounting member is made.

The member 34 is formed with a plurality of parallel hollow formations (shown at 50 in FIGURE 3) each of which receives and holds a needle 35. A rigid transparent plastic cover member 36 is attached to the base member 30 by adhesive as indicated at 37 and is formed with a depressed portion 38 which is adapted to be received under a tongue 39 cut from the base member 30 adjacent to the fold line 31 as seen in FIGURE 2a The pack is closed by latching the depressed portion 38 under the tongue 39, the base member 30 then being substantially planar, as shown in FIGURE 2b.

The cover member 36 is formed with a main centrally raised portion 71 of domed or bowed form presenting its convex face outwardly, the edge of this portion 71 being raised from the plane of the flat margins 72 of the member 36 by inclined lateral faces 73 end faces 74 and 75. At the lower end the member 36 is formed with a further raised portion 76 which is of shallow dished form presenting its concave face outwardly. This portion 76 facilitates gripping of the holder by a user. Some support may be afforded to the mid region of the raised portion 71 by the mounting member 34.

The cover member is preferably so shaped and dimensioned that the main portion 71 defines a chamber for the needles and does not come into contact with the needles when the holder is closed.

The cover member is typically made of rigid polyvinylchloride film, although other materials such as cellulose acetate or polystyrene may be used.

Instead of forming the base member 30 with the fold line 33 which serves as a hinge, it would be possible to enable the cover member 36 to be bent away from the base member 30 by bending about a line between the two raised portions 71 and 76. Thus, for example, the two raised portions may be separated by a narrow fiat strip extending across the cover member in the plane of the margins 72.

Considering the mounting member 34 in more detail, the hollow formations comprise slots 50, as can be seen from FIGURE 3, which are each provided with either a single tongue 51 or a pair of tongues 52 partly spanning the mouths thereof. In the particular form shown, the slots for the larger needles are provided with the pairs of tongues whilst the slots for the smaller needles are provided with the single tongues 51.

Preferably the material of which the mounting member is made has a low coeflicient of friction with respect to the material of which the articles, for which the holder is intended to be used, are made. For example, for use with steel needles a mounting member may be made of polyethylene.

The mounting member and base member are advantageously constructed in such a manner that the articles, when assembled therewith, are held clear of the base member, and preferably the holder as a whole is designed such that the articles are normally in contact with the mounting member only.

The length of the mounting member in the direction of the length of the stem or shank-like portions of the articles is preferably small in comparison with the length of the stems or shank-like portions themselves, being just long enough to hold the articles securely and accurately in position.

Whilst the mounting member could be formed in a conventional mould in which the molten thermoplastic material is injected into a feeder duct extending in the parting plane of two dies which together define the mould cavity, the mould having provision for the insertion of the base member onto which the mounting member is to be moulded, it is preferred that the would is formed with an open sided mould cavity, the open side of which is closed by the base member, the molten thermoplastic material being injected into the cavity through an aperture in the base member.

In some cases the mould may comprise a single die, and in other cases a pair of separable dies. Thus, where the mounting member is formed with bores as aforesaid to receive the stems or shank-like portions of the articles, a two part mould is essential, one of these parts having cores which project into the mould cavity to produce the bores. However, where the mounting member is formed with open mouthed slots as aforesaid, it is possible to use a one piece mould, for example if the slots are parallel sided or divergent towards their mouths, and in some cases even where slots are of undercut form. Thus by suitable design of the shape of the slots and suitable choice of the thermoplastic material (i.e. one which is sufficiently elastic) it is believed to be possible to remove the moulded mounting member from the mould cavity without damage.

One such material which I have found can be removed from a one piece mould even with undercut formations is ethylene-vinyl-acetate (E.V.A.), although the coefiicient of friction of this material is rather high for easy Withdrawal of small articles such as sewing needles once they are attached to a mounting member of this material. However, this material may be suitable for use with articles of a rather larger size than the normal sized domestic sewing needles, such as needles for sewing carpets, which are sufiiciently large to be gripped easily.

It is also possible to employ a mounting member which is made of a soft plastics material such as ethylene-vinylacetate, this mounting member having no such hollow formations as aforesaid but retaining needles by the insertion of their pointed ends into the mounting member.

As shown in FIGURES 5a and b the mounting member 34 is formed on the card 30 by placing the latter on a mould comprising a die 11 having an upwardly presented open sided mould cavity 12. The nozzle 14 of an injection moulding machine can be lowered onto the upper side of the cardboard base member as shown with an injection orifice 15 in register with the aperture 45. The nozzle 14 comprises a cylinder 16 containing molten thermoplastic material 17 and is maintained at a temperature sufficient to keep the material 17 in its molten state by means of heating elements (not shown). The cylinder 16 houses the piston 18 which is arranged to be pressed downwardly by means not shown. Due to the fineness of the orifice 15 the resistance to the outflow of the material 17 is sufficient to cause the cylinder to be lowered onto the base member 30 when the piston 18 is depressed. When movement of the cylinder is arrested by contact with the base member 30, the latter is firmly gripped between the lower face 19 of the. cylinder and the upper face 20 of the mould around the periphery of the cavity 12. Continued downward movement of the piston 18 forces the material 17 through the orifice 15 and aperture 45 into the cavity 12 so as to fill the latter.

Although the base member is flexible, being made of cardboard, it is prevented from lifting from the open side of the mould cavity under the pressure of the injected material by the nozzle itself because it is clamped between the nozzle and the die.

The pressure at which the material is injected causes it to penetrate into the surface interstices of the cardboard, and the pressure itself is dependent on the size of the orifice 15 and the viscosity of the material 17. The finer the material of which the cardboard is made the higher is the temperature of the thermoplastic material 17 required to be for adequate penetration of the latter into the cardboard for adhesion. If the cardboard is formed with a surface finish of a substantially impervious nature (e.g. by calandering) such surface finish may be removed in the area over which the part is to be moulded. Alternatively, where such a finish is provided by printing or the like it can be omitted from the area concerned.

The cardboard member 30 acts as a thermal barrier between the hot nozzle 14 and the cold mould 11 so that the material in the mould cavity solidifies rapidly as it loses heat to the mould 11.

When the mould cavity is filled with the material 17 the piston is raised and the cylinder is also lifted. The material in the orifice 15 remains molten since any cooling in the vicinity of the orifice is kept to a minimum by the insulating eflect of the base member 30.

It will be appreciated that any appropriate number of orifices such as 15 can be formed in a single cylinder such as 14 so that several mouldings can be formed at the same time.

In production on a commercial scale it may be desired to form simultaneously a larger number of mouldings than is practicable directly from a single nozzle having a plurality of orifices. In this case a hot runner system can be employed, in which, instead of pressing the actual nozzle of an injection moulding machine directly onto the base member the molten plastic is supplied under pressure to a. bed plate formed with a labyrinth of passageways leading from one or more inlets to a plurality of outlet orifices. Thus in a typical example 18 mounting members can be moulded simultaneously onto a card measuring 8%" X 16%" (subsequently to be cut into 18 individual cards) using a steel bed plate heated to a temperature sufiiciently high to ensure that the plastic will flow through the passageways. The card is placed on a mould which is formed with 18 open-sided mould cavities similar to the mould cavity 12 for example. The bed plate is pressed onto the card by means such as a hydraulic pressure cylinder, and the molten plastic material is forced through the passageways in the bed plate to the mould cavities.

This method of forming moulded mounting members, either singly or multiply, has certain advantages over conventional injection moulding techniques.

In general injection moulding of a part is achieved by injecting a quantity of a thermoplastic material in a molten or fluid state into a cavity shaped to form the part, the cavity being defined by two or more dies which are separable to allow the moulded part to be removed from the dies after the material has solidified sufficiently. Normally the molten material is fed to the cavity from an injection nozzle along a feeder duct defined by the dies and usually extending in the parting plane of the dies. For example the feeder duct is defined by cooperating grooves in the faces of the dies which come together when they are closed to define the mould cavity.

In order to ensure that the molten material flows freely into the mould cavity when the dies are closed, the dies must be at a sufiiciently high temperature to prevent solidification of the material in the feeder duct before the cavity is filled. However, the dies cannot be separated until they have cooled sufficiently to allow the molten material in the cavity to solidify. Thus the existence of the feeder duct in the dies means that the time for one complete cycle of operations is greater than would be necessary if such duct could be eliminated since the whole mould could then remain at a substantially lower temperature throughout the whole cycle.

The above described method is based on the concept that, by suitable choice of the materials involved and the conditions of the moulding operation, it is possible to form the moulded member directly onto the base member, so that the operations of moulding and attachment to the base member are carried out in a single stage process without the necessity for a feeder duct running through the dies to the mould cavity.

Thus such method essentially resides in injecting molten or fluid thermoplastic material into an open sided mould cavity through an aperture in the base member, the latter serving to close the open side of the mould cavity.

In this way the moulded member is formed directly on the base member at the opposite side thereof to that from which the material is injected. This has the immediate adantage that since the molten material is not required flow through the die or dies defining the mould cavity 1e temperature of such dies is not subject to the restricion mentioned above and the time required for one cycle f operations is reduced. Moreover, the base member itelf affords a barrier between the dies and the member lrough which the molten material is supplied, this memer necessarily being kept at a temperature sufiicient to nsure that such material remains fluid therein. Thus it allows that when the moulded part has solidified in the 1ould cavity such stem, or sprue, as exists (if any) is ubstantially contained within the thickness of the base lember. Thus the moulded part formed in this way reuires no trimming to remove the stem or sprue, which lay even perform a useful function in assisting securelent of the moulding to the base member.

Whilst a hot runner type of system may be employed 1 conventional injection moulding operations to avoid he formation of sprue, it will be understood that the equisite temperature differential between a large numer of closely arranged mould cavities and the corresponding orifices of the bed plate (as described previousv) can only be maintained by virtue of the thermal barier afforded bythe card through which the molten maerial is injected. It would not be possible to form a irge number of small mouldings in a small overall area llihOllt any thermal insulation between the die and the ed plate.

Normally the adhesion between the mounting member 4 moulded in this way and the base member 30 is sutfiient to prevent the mounting member becoming deached from the base member in normal use, and to 'revent the mounting member lifting or peeling away rom the base member it may be unnecessary to provide my additional keying between the mounting member and 1e base member other than that which arises by virtue f the adhesion of these parts due to interpenetration of 1c thermoplastic material of the mounting member into urfaces interstices of the base member, or by virtue of usion of the thermoplastic material present in the base iember or on the surface thereof. Such adhesive keyig may also be sufiicient to resist lateral displacement f the mounting member across the surface of the base iember.

The stud 53 formed by solidification of the thermolastic material in the aperture 45 through which the ma- :rial is injected provides some additional mechanical eying to resist lateral displacement of the mounting lem'ber over the surface of the base member.

If additional keying against lateral displacement is reuired over' and above that afforded by the adhesive eying between the mounting member and base memer (and whether or not the molten thermoplastic mateial is injected through an aperture in the base member) 1e latter may be formed with indentations or holes lCh as 54 into which the thermoplastic material can enetrate to form pegs which provide mechanical keyig. Such pegs may extend completely through the base iember and be formed with headed portions as indicated t 55 so as to provide further mechanical keying in ddition to the adhesive keying resisting lifting or peel- 1g of the moulding member from the base member.

These apertures 54 are muchfiner than the aperture 5 and register with cavities in the lower face 19 of the ylinder 16 so that molten material flows under pressure tom the mould cavity 12 through the apertures 21 into 1e cavities. Since the cylinder 16 is hot the material .in iese cavities may not solidify before the cylinder is rised, but since the cavities are of a very. small volume 1e material on the upper or reverse side of the base lember will cool quickly and solidify almost immediate- I after the cylinder is raised and before the moulded part removed from the mould cavity.

Instead of secondary apertures 54 the base member 30 may be formed with peressions or indentations for the same purpose.

As can be seen from FIGURE 5b the mould 11 comprising tWo separable dies 41 and 4-2 which in combination define the mould cavity 12 which has inwardly projecting portions 44 which define the undercut formations 50 for receiving the needles 35.

The aperture in the base member through which the molten. material is injected is of a diameter sufliciently larger than the diameter of the orifice in the injector nozzle from which the molten material is injected to ensure that such material passes through the aperture without contacting the side walls thereof.

Typically the diameter of the aperture 45 in the base member 30 is approximately 0.040 and that of the orifice in the nozzle is 0.015. With such sizes there is no danger of the injected material coming into contact with the sides of the aperture if the base member is properly aligned with the nozzle.

Also there is no tendency for the orifice 15 of the nozzle 14 to drip as the cylinder 16 is raised from the base base member so that there is no tendency for a filament of plastic material to be drawn out. This arises due to the small diameter of the orifice relative to the viscosity of the plastic material. Moreover the cylinder can be raised simply by lifting the piston and relying on the reduction of pressure within the cylinder to cause the latter to be raised, such reduction of pressure further assisting the prevention of dripping.

Air present in the mould cavity 12 can escape either through the joint 47 between the dies or through the base member itself by virtue of the porosity of the latter.

A typical thermoplastic material from which the moulding may be made is polyethylene.

FIGURES 4a and b respectively show the shape of one slot of generally trapezium shape in transverse section for a small needle and one slot of generally hexagonal shape in transverse section for a large needle taken from FIGURE 3 in greater detail. 7

To make a mounting member with such trapezium or hexagonal section slots from a material such as polyethylene it is necessary to. use a mould comprising two separable dies as shown in FIGURES 5a and 5b. However, FIGURE 40 shows the type of shape which can be employed for these slots so that the mounting member can be moulded from a material having a sufiicient degree of elasticity (for example ethylene-vinyl-acetate), by the use of a single die, the mounting member being temporarily elastically deformed as it is stripped from the mould.

In FIGURE 4a the tongue is shown in full lines as indicated at 51a in its as moulded position, in chain dot lines as indicated at 51b in the position it occupies when a needle 35 is inserted in the slot 50, and in broken lines as indicated at 510 in the position to which it is displaced during removal of such a needle.

In all cases it is preferred that the cross-sectional dimensions of the slots 50 vary longitudinally thereof, for example the slots taper slightly from end to end or are narrower in the mid region of their lengths. This allows greater tolerances in the moulding operation and with respect to the dimensions of needles which can be securely held in the slots.

The trapezium sectional shape of the slot shown in FIGURE 4a is the preferred shape and can be used forall of the slots in the mounting member 34, instead of the hexagonal section slots for the larger needles being shaped as shown-in FIGURE4b.

Typical values of the various dimensions and angles indicated in FIGURE 4a for the trapezium section slots are given in Table A, below for needles of two diameters T), the dimensions being in inches:

TABLE A Small Large Diameter D 027 1. 040 Lengths:

. 003 003 r2 003 005 Angles,

Typical values of the dimensions and angles indicated in FIGURE 4b for the hexagonal section slot are given in Table B below for a needle of diameter D=.037".

TABLE B Diameter D .037 Lengths:

111 .060 112 .020 113 .055 114 .018 115 .008 116 .012 117 .042 Radius r3 .003 Angles,

a3 30 a4 30 a5 66 The characteristics features of the sectional shape of the slot shown in FIGURE 40 include the comparatively large radius of the curved sides and the large angle at which such sides meet to define the tongues 52. These features are necessary to ensure that the mounting member can be withdrawn from a one piece or unitary mould of the complementary shape without tearing. Typical values of the dimensions and angles indicated in FIGURE 4c for this type of slot are given in Table C below for a needle of diameter D=.040".

Alternatively, it would be possible for the mounting member 34 to be moulded directly onto the cardboard member 30 from the front side thereof in a conventional mould having a feeder duct extending in the parting plane of the dies. The sprue formed by solidification of the material in this feeder duct would then have to be removed by any convenient method.

It would also be possible to mould the mounting members by conventional techniques and then attach them to the base member, for example, adhesively.

Instead of forming the mounting membenwith open mouthed slots, such as 50, it is possible to provide open ended bores into which needles can be inserted longitudinally, and FIGURE 6 shows a mould which can be used to produce this type of mounting member.

In this figure the mould cavity 56 is defined by two separable dies 57 and 58. The die 57 carries a spacer block 59 and the die 58 carries a further block 60. The block 60 is formed with a number of parallel bores 61 in which are loacted pins 62, only the outermost and innermost ones being shown. Each pin is formed with a tapered end 63 projecting into the mould cavity 56. The diameter of the tapered end portion 63 of each pin is, over most of its length, equal to that of the needle which is intended to be received in the bore which is formed in the moulded member by virtue of its presence in the mould cavity 56. The part of the end part 63 where the latter widens to join the main portion of the pin 62 forms a bell shaped mouth to the bore in the moulded mounting member so facilitating the insertion of a needle into the bore.

Each pin 62 is formed with a head 64 located in a recess 65 in the die 58.

In operation the base member 30 is placed on the mould with the aperture 45 aligned with an orifice 15 in an injection nozzle 14. The latter decends and clamps the base member 30 around the periphery of the mould cavity 56 and injects molten thermoplastic it material through the aperture 45 into the mould cavity lhe cardboard base member 30 forms a thermally insulating barrier between the hot nozzle 14 (which is maintained at a temperature sufiicient to keep the thermoplastic material in its molten state) and the cold mould. When the thermoplastic material in the mould cavity hassolidified the nozzle 14 is raised and the dies 57 and 58 are separated. The moulded mounting member is then ejected off the ends 63 of the pins 62 by means of an ejector bar 66. I

The ends 63 of the pins '62 are preferably formed with a slight taper, typically 1", so that the bore formed thereby is of tapering cross-sectional dimensions for the reasons previously explained.

The slots 51 or bores in the mounting member are preferably so arranged that the needles are held parallel to one another out of contact with the base member and also clear of the cover member.

It will be appreciated that substantially thewhole of every needle is visible even when the pack is closed.

It is contemplated that the invention may be extended to holders for use with articles of other kinds than the kind specified.

The mounting member is preferably moulded as de scribed above, but it will be understood that the needles may be attached to the cardboard base member in other ways, for example by inserting the stem or shank-like portion thereof endwise into a mid portion of a piece of cloth or similar material attached to the base member, or

into a raised or corrugated portion of the base member itself.

It will be apparent that the reusable holder described above for articles of the kind specified comprises a base member having means for releasably attaching one or more such articles thereto, and a cover member enclosing and protecting such articles whilst exposing to view the whole of each such article apart from any portion thereof which is obscured by the means whereby it is attached to the base member, in the preferred form of which the base member comprises a substantially flat card (or like member) and the cover member comprises a preformed sheet of rigid plastics material shaped to domed or convex form. the periphery of which when the holder is closed lies against the surface of the card, and at least the portion of the cover member which overlies the article is transparent.

What I then claim is:

n, comprising:

(a) a base member (30) formed as a sheet of a material whichby its nature presents surface interstices.

(b) mounting means (34) on said base member for holding at least one said article (35) in assembled relation with said base member and wherein:

(i) said mounting means (34) comprises a blocklike body of a thermoplastic material having gripping means (50) for releasably engaging said stern portion of said article (35) to retain said article in assembled relation with said mounting means by virtue of elastic deformation of the latter, and

(ii) the thermoplastic material of said mounting means is secured to said base member (30) at least partially by virtue of said material penetrating into said surface interstices of said base member, I

(c) cover means (36) for enclosing'and protecting said article comprising a preformed sheet of rigid plastics material having an outwardly convex transparent raised portion (71) overlying said mounting means (34) and defining a chamber for said article (35), and adjacent to said raised portion (71) a portion (76) secured to said base member (30, and (d) hinge means (33) for hingedly connecting said cover means (36) to said base member (30) and for movement of said cover means, at least partially, relative to said base member between an open position and a closed position, said means (33) being disposed adjacent to said portion (76) of said cover means (36) which is secured to said base member (30). 2. A holder as claimed in claim I wherein said porn (76) of said cover means (36) which is secured to id base member (30) is of an outwardly concave form. 3. A holder as claimed in claim 1 wherein said hinge eans comprise a fold line (33) formed in said base 12 member (30) enabling the latter to be bent away from said raised portion (71) of said cover means (36). the base member also being formed with a central fold line (32) adjacent to said mounting means (34) whereby part of said base member can be bent away from said article (35) held by said mounting means.

4. A holder as claimed in claim 3 wherein said cover means (36) has a flat peripheral margin (72) which engages said base member (30) when the cover means is in its closed position, and said base member (30) is formed with a further fold line (31) at the end of said cover means remote from said portion (76) which is secured to said base member, said base member being formed with a tongue (39) at said further fold line (39), which tongue (39) engages over said margin (72) of said cover means when the latter is in its closed position.

5. A holder as calimed in claim 1 wherein said gripping means comprises at least one hollow formation having cross-sectional dimensions which vary longitudinally thereof and are adapted to receive stern portion of said article (35) and retain the latter in assembled relation with the base member (30).

References Cited UNITED sTA Es PATENTS Re. 24,767 1/1960 Simon et al 20646 983,538 2/1911 ChOilZ 206-66 2,228,493 1/1941 Will 20667 x 3,174,621 3/1965 Watson i- 20678 3,400,811 9/1968 Ponicci 206-78 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,413,753 8/1965 France. 1,222,240 l/1960 France.

MARTHA L. RICE, Primary Examiner u.s."c1. x12. 

